Mail-crane attachment



(No Model.)

0. P. 8: G. M. G. WILLIAMS.

MAIL GRANE ATTACHMENT. No. 341,618. Patented May 11, 1886.

I WITNESSES: j INVIjNTOR:

1 y w -m%%@ %65W BY ATTORNEYS.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OLIVER PERRY WILLIAMS AND GASSIUS M. G. \VlLLIAMS, OF OONNORS STATION, KANSAS.

MAIL-CRANE ATTACHMENT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 341,618, dated May 11, 1886.

Application filed March 2, 1886. Serial No. 193,730.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, OLIVER PERRY WILL- IAMS and OASSIUS M. O. WILLIAMs, of Connors Station, in the county of Wyandotte and State of Kansas, have invented a new and Improved Mail-Orane Attachment, of which the following isafull, clear, and exact description.

Our invention relates to the construction of an attachment for mail-cranes, whereby the bags or pouches may be suspended in a manner to prevent their being blown off by the wind, but so that they may be readily removed by the gathering attachments carried by the mail-cars, the parts being so arranged that all liability of the pouches becoming torn is obviated.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in both the figures.

Figure 1 is a plan View of our attachment, and Fig. 2is a side view of the same, the link by which the mail-pouch is suspended being shown in section.

In the construction illustrated in the drawings above referred to, A represents an arm extending outward from a post or other stationary object, and to this arm there is secured a metallic plate, B, upon which there is pivotally mounted a frame, 0, connection being made by apivot-bolt, 0. This frame 0 consists of a plate or strip, a,which rests upon the plate 13, and extends out beyond the forward curved edge, 0. Just above this forward curved edge, a, of the plate B there is arranged a bar, 22, forming a groove or way, (1, within which the plate a rests. Beyond the edge 0 the strip a is carried downward and then outward to form the nose 6. At or near the rear end of the strip a there is arranged a vertical strip, f, from which there is a forwardly-projecting strip, g,which runs parallel with strip a, to be,

however, curved downward at i, so as to ap proach, but not quite touch, the upper face of the nose 6. Abar, D, is mounted so as to slide in bearings formed in the vertical lengths of the frame 0, the forward-projecting end of this bar being bifurcated, thus forming arms h h, between which a catch, E, is mounted, a plate, F, being held by the forward vertical portion, *6, 0f the frame 0, said plate being arranged so (No model.)

as to enter the spaces between the arms h h and afforda bearing for the inner face and heel of the catch E, which catch, as shown, is provided with a handle, E. A spring, H, is coiled about the rod D, and abuts against the vertical strip 2' and an adjustingnut, 70, carried at the rear end of the bar D, said end being threaded to engage with the nut, which may be turned forward or back to regulate the tension of the spring. From this construction it will be seen that the catch E will be yieldingly held against the plate I Such being the general construction of our improved mail-crane attachment, the operation is as follows: The pouch or mail-bag is provided with aring or link, N,which is placed upon the nose 6, the catch E being first raised to permit such placing of the link or ring N. After the ring has been placed upon the nose, the catch is allowed to return to the position shown in Fig. 2, thus retaining the link upon the nose, the tension of the spring being such that the pouch cannot be blown off, the frame 0 being at this time moved to the side of the plateB toward the train carrying the gatherer. As the train passes the attachment the gatherer strikes the pouch and disconnects it from engagement with its supporting attachment, the force of the shock caused by the gatherer striking the pouch being greatly lessened, owing to the fact that the frame 0 is free to swing upon its pivotal connection with the plate B.

Having thus fully described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a mail-crane attachment, the combination, with a base-plate, of a frame pivoted to swing in a horizontal plane to follow the motion of the car, and provided with a yieldingly-connected catch mounted upon and moving laterally with the swinging frame, substantially as described.

2. In a mail-crane attachment, the combination, withabaseplate formed with a groove or way, (I, of a frame, 0, pivotally connected to said base-plate, a sliding bar, D, carrying a catch, E, and a spring, I'I, substantially as described.

3. In a mail-crane attachment, the combination,with abase-plate formed with a groove or way, (I, of a frame, 0, pivotally connected D, supported by the vertical lengths ft, and

to said base-plate, a sliding bar, D, having a having a bifurcated forward end, a catch, E,

catch, E, a spring, H, and a nut, It, all arranged 1 pivotally connected to the bifurcated end of substantially as described. the bar D, a spring, H, nut 7c, and a plate, F,

4. In a mail-crane attachment, the combisubstantially as described.

nati0n,with abase-plate formed with a groove OLIVER PERRY WILLIAM? or Way d of a frame 0, c0nsistin of horizontal lengths a and g and vertical l e ngths f and OASSIUS XVILLIAMS' Vitnesses:

i, the length a resting upon said base-plate, and being guided within the groove or way (2, O. G. NIOKELLS, and being formed with a nose, 0, a sliding bar, I M. WILLIAMS. 

